“I hope it doesn’t, but it’s still a little bit sore,” Kahne said Friday. “I think it may be sore throughout the race, but really as far as affecting the speed or the way that the race plays out, I don’t think it will affect that at all.”

Kahne had surgery April 18 to repair the meniscus in his right knee. He also had surgery on both knees in November, but said Friday he re-injured the right one earlier this season when he slipped while exercising.

“I finished a workout and I slipped off the bench and my feet kind of gave out,” he said. “I laid there for about five minutes, and then the last two months, I’ve hoped that it would get better. It didn’t, so I got it checked again and I had blown basically the stitches that held it together that they had fixed the first time.”

Kahne said he knew he needed a second surgery, and waited until NASCAR’s break last week to have the procedure. He’s hoping the issue is now resolved.

“I needed an off week, I needed a little time and there was only one time slot basically for that and that’s what I waited for,” he said. “I don’t want any more surgeries. I’m over it. It’s not that much fun.”

Kahne goes into Saturday night’s race at Richmond ranked 18th in the Sprint Cup Series standings.

The Washington Times Comment Policy

The Washington Times is switching its third-party commenting system from Disqus to Spot.IM. You will need to either create an account with Spot.im or if you wish to use your Disqus account look under the Conversation for the link "Have a Disqus Account?". Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.